Tom Bombadil, as he appears in Battle for Middle Earth 2.
Tom Bombadil is an enigmatic being of great power, native to the Old Forest outside of the Shire in a private harmony with his wife Goldberry. Bombadil has been described as one of the most powerful beings in Middle-Earth in his own domain, but despite this his only major role in the War of the Ring was his appearance to aid the Hobbit companions of Frodo Baggins escape the clutches of Old Man Willow, and eventually save the four of them from a group of Barrow Wights after much partying and merry making. His minimalist but memorable appearance in Fellowship of the Ring has lead to his appearance in numerous games from adaptations to expanded universe works.
Gaming History[]
Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring: The Video Game[]
Tom in The Fellowship of the Ring: The Video Game
Not long after the tutorial of the Shire, Frodo Baggins and his faithful Hobbit companions, Samwise Gamgee, Merry Brandybuck and Pippen Took found themselves in Bombadil's domain- the Old Forest. Unfortunatly for Baggins, his allies lost themselves in the massive forest, forcing Frodo to search for them, fighting off numerous giant spiders. While Frodo eventually found them trapped in the clutches of Old Man Widow, Frodo was unable to overcome the ancient tree alone and only due to the intervention of Tom Bombadil could the Hobbits be freed. Bombadil sent the party in search of twelve waterlilies for him, requiring the battle of more giant spiders, but once returned to him, the ancient master happily allowed his new friends to stay at his home and recuperate (as well as party) with his wife Goldberry and himself.
Frodo and his companions journied to the Barrow-Downs after this hospitality, where Frodo's companions are again lost (probably taken while he slept) and Baggins had no choice but to seek them out in the fog of the wight-haunted downs. Along the way Frodo encountered Barrow-Wights, ghost-like creatures that clawed at him. In the final Barrow-Down Frodo found his friends and the Westernesse Dagger, which he used to fight the Old Barrow-Wight itself. The Old Barrow-Wight was much stronger than the others and spewed deadly mist at Frodo. Eventually, Tom Bombadil found them again, and he intervened by killing the Old Barrow-Wight with a powerful spell before guiding the hobbits on to the town of their destination, Bree.
Lord of the Rings: Battle for Middle-Earth 2[]
The dark influence of Sauron's forces continued to spread after the Fellowship of the Ring began it's quest, and while the forces of the remaining Free People began to mount their defense, Tom Bombadil watched as his own domain began to recede back at the oncoming forces. While he had never played an active role in the art of war before, Bombadil eventually came to the aid of the elven hero Glorfindel and the dwarf warrior Gloin, helping to battle everything from the Goblin hordes to the Orcs of Mordor. He would prove an invaluable ally in many of these campaigns, though his powers would wane over time, eventually forcing him to retreat.
In gameplay, Tom Bombadil is a powerful temporary hero unit who can be summoned by Good faction players when they obtain 10 points. Bombadil dances about the battlefield quickly, singing jaunty tunes from his appearance in Fellowship of the Ring as he goes, and simply walking into enemy battalions can cause damage. He has a special attack as well- a powerful singing shout that sends enemies scattering with tremendous force. Bombadil dissapears from the game after a few minutes, followed by a moderate cooldown before he can be summoned once more. Due to this, Tom Bombadil is often used to reak havok on enemy armies or to help defend a key location in a pinch than to try and bring down the enemy base.
Lord of the Rings: Online[]
Bombadil in Lord of the Rings Online
Tom Bombadil makes yet another appearance in Turbine's Lord of the Rings: Online. Bombadil is a quest-giving NPC located in the Old Forest in Breeland. The Player is sent by Strider to speak with him to help find the crebain that flew into his home, the focus of the quest Master of the Wood, during Chapter 1. While Bombadil recognises Aragorn as an old friend, he claims that he has no time for "bird hunting" as his wife, Goldberry, is away at her spring to collect lillies. Tom offers to help the player, but only if they agree to aid his wife by collecting four more lilies. Once the player returns to Bombadil with these lilies, he will point them in the direction the birds took off, completing the quest Lilies for the River-Daughter and beginning the quest Into the Barrow-Downs, revealing the crebain's location. The player sets off to fight the crebain in the Barrow-Downs, eventually confronting their master Andraste. Andraste taunted that she knew of the Ring's travel with Frodo Baggins, and that the Witch-King would hear of this information upon killing the player. Luckily for the unaware Hobbit, the player was able to overcome Andraste's attacks, and killed her before she could inform the Lord of the Nine anything, revealing that he was headed to a place called Othrongroth. Tom Bombadil warned against heading to Othrongroth, claiming that it was filled with Barrow-Wights, but seeing the player's determination to head there, resigned to show them the way.
Tom encoraged the Player to gather allies before setting off for the terrible path to Othrongroth, and when they arrived the Fellowship was faced the Great Barrow, a sinistar pact that could spell doom for all of Eriador. Bombadil aided the warriors in their pursuit of the Witch-King and combating the Wights native to the region, before finally confronting the Wight-lord, Sambrog. Upon Sambrog's destruction, Bombadil scolded the Player for attempting to even enter Othrongroth and sent them in the direction of Bree instead, concluding his role in the story as he would not leave his place of power.
Appearances[]
- Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring: The Video Game
- Lord of the Rings: Battle for Middle Earth 2
- Lord of the Rings: Battle for Middle Earth 2: Rise of the Witch-King
- Lord of the Rings: Online